Back on my shelves I found some 6 gallons of STEAM WAY shampoo, about 3-4 years old, before I new about the encapsulating products of today.
I'm not sure if I can use it as an encapsulator.
The name of the product is,
CARPET $ UPHOLSTERY SHAMPOO, by Steam Way.
Under that it says, For Automatic And Rotery Extraction Rinse System.
On the bottle, a part of the text says: " The shampoo works by dislodging dirt from the carpet fibers and allowing the foam to encapsulate it and holds the soils in suspension until is vacuumed up with a wet and dry vacuum or extracted.
CARPET & UPHOLSTERY SHAMPOO contains soil resistant additives to assist in the cleaning process well as help the carpet stay cleaner longer."
This is NOT the Mist & Brush shampoo, which I have.
Ingredients:
Sodium lauryl sulfate
Isopropyl Alcohol
Water
Soil Resist Additives
Can it be used as an Encapsulator with the CIMEX? or it is an old style shampoo, like Von Shrader's?

Chris

Chris,
It is definitely a shampoo, not an encapsulator. That is how shampoos work. Shampoo the area. Before the foam breaks down, one must pick up the foam with a wet & dry vac, because that is where the soil is suspended. That is the primary function of shampooing carpet, create foam to suspend the soil, then vacuum before the foam breaks down and redeposits the soil. This is contrary to what many HWE guys think. All they can recite is "grind in", "grind in" etc.
To have, and opperate, only one kind of carpet cleaning equipment, and think that you have all the answers to resolving soil removal, or restoration problems is known as "CARPET CLEANING MENTALITY"and is very narrow minded. This "CARPET CLEANING MENTALITY" is what gives GOOD carpet cleaners a bad name.
Forgive my ramblings. I hope that I answered your question about the shampoo product you found.

Thanks for your respond. In their text they have the word "Encapsulate' and that confused me.
You forgot to write your name, and I don't know who was talking to me?

Chris

It sounds like the product you have is one of the old style shampoos. The word "encapsulation" may have been used on the label. However the old style shampoos, by design, can’t perform encapsulation like our new encap products can. Quite simply, the old shampoos were formulated differently. The current better quality encap products contain polymers that will form a true crystal when the product dries. That’s important! It's this crystallization process that holds the soil in suspension so that it can be extracted later with post-vacuuming. The old shampoo idea may have run along the same lines, in theory. However the new encap polymer chemistry has improved things considerably. The new polymer formulations that we see being employed today in some of the good products is quite different from the formulations used in the older shampoos. Additionally we’re seeing the use of Fluorochemicals in some of the better encap products, such as our DuPont Zonyl. Appropriate fluorochemical usage can significantly improve the performance of an encapsulator.

For example here's how Releasit compares:
1) Releasit contains an exceptional polymer that forms a distinct crystal as it dries.
2) Releasit contains Zonyl that helps the encapsulating crystal release more easily from the fiber.
3) Releasit contains Zonyl that lowers the surface tension of the detergent and thereby increases wetting and cleaning ability.
4) Releasit contains Zonyl that provides excellent anti-wicking properties.
5) Releasit contains Zonyl that will leave the carpet slightly more soil resistant.
6) Releasit does not contain sodium-laurel-sulfate that can be hazardous in a dry form.
7) The detergent base in Releasit is a wide range cleaner that can handle heavy soil loads.
8) Releasit contains Tea Tree oil.

So by comparison the old shampoo you have is really a different product altogether.





Rick Gelinas

Thanks for all the info Rick. So, what can I do with these leftover botlles? Can I use it for some nice baths? LOL!
I see that your Releasit contains a lot of DuPont's Sonyl, can we call it "Releasit Zonyl"? LOL!
Ya, I know Zonyl name belongs to DuPont.
I really love your Releasit, BTW you can send me another case of four gallons of Releasit, you have my CC#.
Thanks
Chris

Glad you like it! It will go out tomorrow. Thanks for the order




Rick Gelinas

The old formulas called encapsulators did in fact encapsulate SOME soils, but in a different manner, as I recall they were using a resin. I used Chemspec's Soil Retardant Shampoo for years, hundreds of jobs- and it did work to retard the soiling compared to without the resins.

It sounds to me like the Steamway product mentioned is similar to the Chemspec product, although I never used the Steamway product.

Anyway, you can still use it on residential carpets or loose rugs. It should still be OK- the shelf life on these things is very long.

Gary